Disney’s “Wendy Wu” Smells Awfully Familiar - BtVS

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June 16 2006

Disney’s “Wendy Wu” Smells Awfully Familiar. KungFuRodeo notes the more than random comparisons between "Wendy Wu" and Buffy.

"Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior is a new Disney Channel Original Movie. It’s about an Asian-American girl with dreams to become homecoming queen. But then a young monk named Shen comes to tell her that she’s the reincarnation of a Chinese warrior and must save the world."

BetterInRed | BtVS | 19:03 CET | 27 comments total | tags: btvs, buffy

Also, who is Miles? ;-)

BetterInRed | June 16, 19:06 CET

I saw a preview for that as well and instantly thought of Buffy. I don't really care if it's a loosely based rip off of buffy or not though. I'll still be watching it just cause it looks good.

SpikeBad | June 16, 19:34 CET

Good old Disney... hey, Disney, when she's done with Kung-Fu, does the Asian girl do Math? Sorry, couldn't resist :) Nothing like stealing a concept whole and then layering stereotypes atop the sundae (I kid, but you know...).

zeitgeist | June 16, 19:53 CET

Ripoff? Maybe. What they do with the premise will be the test.

Say... I wonder if there are people on a Norse or Polynesian mythology (or whatever) blog somewhere going; 'that Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a bad ripoff of our Heroic Journey myths'?

wouldestous | June 16, 19:54 CET

wouldestous - The truth is thats a much less specific "ripoff" in that case than it is in this. There are only so many overarching story ideas, while specifics like this are a little more blatantly "borrowing" from a source material.

zeitgeist | June 16, 20:19 CET

Ha! Just wait till people see what's airing on the Sci Fi Channel on July 8th.

Simon | June 16, 20:23 CET

Oh boy does that look bad :)

Paul_Rocks | June 16, 20:29 CET

Disney ,the corporation who sued an Irish couple (the couple won ) because their idea for a character very slightly resembled a Disney character.

I wonder should FOX sue Disney

garda39 | June 16, 20:35 CET

OMG Simon! "Slayer!" Who does the Sci Fi channel think they're fooling with that!?

SpikeBad | June 16, 21:01 CET

I'll be watching, I'm sure. Why would I care if it's borrowed. If it's good, it's good. If it's not, it's not.
Is "Bones" being aired or even made because of the success of all the "CSI" ("Quincy" copies, I suppose) type shows? It wouldn't surprise me. But, I enjoy "Bones" much more than "CSI".
Will I enjoy "Wendy Wu" more than "Buffy"? Maybe more than the movie (minus Paul Reubens, of course). I don't see it as competition with "Buffy" (which, by the way is no longer in production).
Was "The Monkees" a Beatle exploitation? Yes, but it was loads of fun.
Erm... maybe you younger folks won't get that last one... :)

Anna von Ovonov | June 16, 21:32 CET

SpikeBad: The best bit, it sounds like it's a ripoff of Riley and The Initiative in South America. As according to this Wonder Woman site:

LYNDA CARTER plays Colonel Jessica Weaver, the leader of an elite team who investigate strange cases related to vampires in the jungles of Latin America.

Simon | June 16, 21:37 CET

Have we also noticed young Simon Tam from "Safe" (Zack Efron) taking over all teenage-girl-oriented media starting with his work on the Disney Cannel's "High School Musical"? Or are my daughters and I the only ones who noticed him.

Anna von Ovonov | June 16, 21:52 CET

This is Disney, who sued a kindergarden for airing one of their videos to the toddlers...On the other hand, when one has signed such creations as The Hunchback of Notre Dame,Pinocchio, The Little Mermaid...Who can begrudge such a literary giant authoring Buffy ...err...Wendy!

highly staked | June 16, 22:03 CET

Well, 90% of the stuff that they "authored" was public domain or not exactly original anyway, so no shock.

zeitgeist | June 16, 22:30 CET

All these studios willing to shell out for Buffy rip-offs. You'd think one of them would be willing to pay for the real thing.

barboo | June 16, 23:29 CET

Another positive female role model? Bring it on! And she all multi-cultural to boot. =)

[ edited by Samira327 on 2006-06-16 21:33 ]

teachndoc | June 16, 23:30 CET

Yup, Zeit, than they try to make it so no one else can use the source material they used. Hence Fables having such a hard time using certain characters in the book.

Odysseus | June 16, 23:32 CET

I also noticed young Simon in High School Musical. Unfortunately, that movie has taken over the living room in my house, along with a gaggle of giggling 14 year old girls.

holymother | June 17, 01:26 CET

Here's an interesting site about how Disney ripped off "Kimba the White Lion" and called it "The Lion King": How Disappointing.

girlpire | June 17, 02:02 CET

That's young Simon? And here I thought it had no redeemable qualities.

hacksaway | June 17, 03:06 CET

Here's an interesting site about how Disney ripped off "Kimba the White Lion" and called it "The Lion King": How Disappointing.

And here I thought they were ripping off "Hamlet." ;-)

billz | June 17, 08:27 CET

Nah, billz, they were ripping off a combo of Hamlet and Richard III. Of course, I never saw The Lion King, just heard about it until I wanted to scream, so I might have that a little skewered. . . . But the "wicked uncle" bit really sounded like good ol' Richard, villain nonpareil, to me, offing the prince(s) in the Tower, etc. and usurping the throne. Or something. . . .

Okay. Shutting up now.

SangChaud | June 17, 09:41 CET

There was also a big stink about Disney's Atlantis being a ripoff of a Japanese anime, Nadia. Atlantis/Nadia [wiki]

Not to mention the controversy surrounding transfer of Winney the Pooh rights to Disney lawyers. Link: Pooh wiki

And that Disney has been foremost behind lobbying U.S. congress to keep extending copyright way beyond what is reasonable or originally intended. The recent extension, brought by the late Sonny Bono was dubbed the "Mickey Mouse act" because Steamboat Willy was then approaching 75 years, and would have entered public domain. The point - thousands of other works are otherwise "lost" to humanity.
Larry Lessig went to the Supreme Court over copyright and fair use (he lost):
http://www.lessig.org/blog/
Project Gutenberg would be much larger but for the Disney-backed legislation:
http://www.gutenberg.org/

[ edited by napua on 2006-06-17 07:52 ]

fanbuoyant | June 17, 09:48 CET

Thanks, napua! I forgot I'd been avoiding the gutenberg website ever since hearing about it, just so I wouldn't wind up spending the rest of my waking life glued to it! Now I have it bookmarked and I'm doomed! *DOOMED*, I tell you!!

*Cackles maniacally, but goes quietly when they come for her. . . .*

Sorry. OT, but I just couldn't resist. This whole thread has been a real eye-opener, though. And did anyone scroll down and read the comments? Most of them couldn't see the simiarities! *Shakes head & walks away spluttering*

SangChaud | June 17, 10:14 CET

I checked the Wikipedia page for this for more info. Somebody feels the same way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Wu:_Homecoming_Warrior

Gouki | June 17, 13:52 CET

Why complain? Disney's been ripping of Buffy for years with Kim Possible. Look at it this way: Joss has always said he wanted Buffy to be an icon. What better evidence could there be that she has become one than her incessant reproduction in similar characters? In cases like these, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
http://psc.disney.go.com/disneychannel/kimpossible/characters/index.html

Maeve | June 17, 14:46 CET

"And did anyone scroll down and read the comments? Most of them couldn't see the simiarities!"

I also read the comments, and I was shocked that they said the two movies were completely different because Wendy is of Asian decent and Buffy is not. It makes me wonder if they think Dracula had nothing to do with Nosferatu.

DavidB | June 17, 22:37 CET

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